The Sri Lankans were first found on Lady R3, which was flying the Myanmar flag. They might have been traveling from Myanmar to Canada. The Lady 3 was found adrift and flooded by seawater on Monday by Japanese vessel Helios Leader, around 258 nautical miles (470 km) to the southeast of the southern Vung Tau Town.
All crew and passengers on the Lady R3 were rescued and taken aboard the Helios Leader. The Japanese vessel then changed its course to hand over the rescued people to Vietnam.
On Tuesday, the first Sri Lankans left Helios Leader to board the SAR 413 vessel deployed by the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center stationed in Vung Tau.
Besides SAR 413, Vietnamese authorities also deployed other ships to provide the rescued people with food and drinks. Medical personnel were also on board to provide needed assistance.
A group of rescued Sri Lankans.
With SAR 413 the only vessel able to make contact with the Japanese vessel, it had to make two trips to bring all the rescued people on board.
The rescue operation was largely completed by Wednesday morning.
A rescuer brings a Sri Lankan child to the shore. Among the rescued were 20 children and 19 female adults.
A man wounded in the leg is supported by two others.
V. Moganasuvanthan, 37, said he was a farmer and that he had given $4,000 to a middleman to migrate to Canada, hoping for a better life.
"When the ship's hull got breached four days earlier was also when food and water ran out," he said, adding that he wanted to be repatriated.
Rescue personnel bring the luggage of the rescued people on to the port. Most of the luggage was bags with clothes and other personal belongings.
Border guards provide instructions to the rescued people, before taking them into 45-seat coaches and transporting them to military camps in Vung Tau.
Sri Lanka has been suffering from an acute financial crisis for months. An estimated 22 million people are living with severe fuel, food and medicine shortages, along with record-high inflation and long-lasting blackouts.
Kesavan, 38, spoke on the phone with a Sri Lankan diplomat, recounting their journey. Kesava said an agency had made him a passport and transported him and others in a bus to the Lady R3 on October 9. He paid $5,000 for the trip.
The ship was old and small and there were too many people in it, he said.
"When the water entered the ship and its floor cracked, everyone screamed in fear. But we are safe now, thank you for helping and hosting us," he said.
A Sri Lankan couple and their child at a military camp. They have been given blankets and other necessities.
Border guards bring bags of basic necessities for the rescued Sri Lankans to a location on Le Loi Street.
Sri Lankan diplomats and the International Organization for Migration under the U.N. have said that the rescued people would be provided with ample food and needed healthcare.
Nguyen Cong Vinh, deputy chairman of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People's Committee, also said the rescued people would be taken good care of by local authorities.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said the ministry was cooperating international organizations and authorities to provide humanitarian support in accordance with Vietnamese law and international regulations.
